Wednesday, April 30, 2014

April 30, 2014 - VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES- A train hauling crude oil that derailed Wednesday near downtown
Lynchburg, Va., sending a giant fireball and acrid smoke into the sky,
raised further concerns about public safety as railroads sharply
increase the amount of oil they transport.

About 15 tank cars jumped the track, several tumbling into the James River in the fifth major derailment and large-scale fire in North America involving an oil train in less than one year.

"We are all spring-loaded, looking for these kinds of accidents now," said Brigham McCown, former chief of the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration, the federal agency that oversees tank car safety. "The railroads are under a microscope."

CSX Transportation, which operated the Chicago-to-Virginia freight train, said the fire erupted from three punctured cars after the 2:30 p.m. derailment.

It appeared that the train may have derailed after the track bed was washed away in the river, swollen from heavy rain, McCown said. Photographs at the accident site showed a section of earth had slipped into the river and tracks hung in the air like noodles. At least three tank cars ended up in the river, and blazing oil floated on the river for a while.

No injuries were reported and damage estimates were not immediately available. But several blocks of downtown Lynchburg, a city of about 250,000, were evacuated.

The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team of investigators to the site. The board had begun a major investigation of a late December crude rail accident in Casselton, N.D., which resulted in an evacuation of more than 1,000 residents.

Crude shipments by rail have shot up twenty-fivefold in the last several years as producers rush oil from newly developing shale fields to refineries along routes that are not served by pipelines. McCown said he believed the nation needed not only better tank cars and safer train operations, but also more pipelines.

The string of accidents began with the horrific fire triggered by the derailment of a runaway train in Lac-Megantic, Canada, last summer, in which 47 residents died and much of the downtown was destroyed. Other major accidents followed in Alabama, Alberta and North Dakota, along with minor ones in other states.

The safety concerns have triggered emergency rules by the Federal Railroad Administration, a move toward new safety standards for tank cars and a voluntary agreement with the railroad industry to reduce speeds and avoid sensitive urban corridors.

Downstream more than 100 miles from Lynchburg, a spokeswoman for the city of Richmond said utility officials stopped capturing water from the river as a precaution until the extent of environmental damage caused by the oil spill became clear. Instead, Richmond is relying on a backup canal for water. Lynchburg said the oil spill did not affect its water supply.

CSX said, "We are committed to fully supporting the emergency responders and other agencies, meeting the needs of the community and protecting the environment." - LA Times.

April 30, 2014 - CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES-Eleven workers were hurt, two critically, on Tuesday
after an explosion and fire at a metal-polishing company in northwestern
Orange County.

Many of the victims suffered facial and forearm burns in the 9:49 a.m. explosion at Gorilla's Polishing Corp. at 531 E. Commercial Way in La Habra (map), according to Greg Siggins of Cal/OSHA, the state agency investigating the blast.

Fire officials told NBC4 that the blast was likely not caused by any chemicals used at the business, but possibly from a build-up of lint or dust in ducts in the building.

The business was evacuated and nearby roads were closed for the fire investigation.

The company’s owner said all 32 employees inside at the time of the blast were accounted for.

April 30, 2014 - NEW JERSEY, UNITED STATES- The body of a man
that was pulled from the Hudson River Monday has been identified as that
of a 27-year-old jogger from New Jersey who went missing March 30.

Missing man: The body of Andrew Jarzyk, 27 (left and right), was found
in the Hudson River
nearly a month after he went missing while out for a
jog in Hoboken, New Jersey

The New Jersey Regional Medical Examiner’s Office identified the remains Tuesday night as Andrew Jarzyk, of Hoboken, thanks to the forensic analysts of the victim’s teeth and personal identifiers like tattoos.

The exact cause and manner of death have yet to be determined, but officials say Jarzyk’s body showed no signs of trauma to suggest foul play.

Jarzyk was discovered floating in the water near the historic Erie Lockawanna Train Terminal just after 5.30pm Monday.

The New York City Police Department’s Habror Unit responded to the scene and pulled the body out of the river.

Jarzyk’s family issued a statement on Facebook last night confirming the tragic discovery and saying that their loved one’s death remains a mystery.

‘At this time we do not have answers into why Andrew’s life ended at such a young age. Please be accepting to the fact we may never have these answers,’ his brother Steve Jarzyk wrote.

Andrew Jarzyk, a manager at The PNC Financial Services Group in Woodland Park, was last seen alive at around 2am on March 30 outside his Hoboken apartment dressed in his running gear.

Surveillance cameras captured him jogging along the waterfront, but it remains unknown how he ended up in the river.

Jarzyk’s relatives said he went out for runs often since he was training for a half-marathon in Long Branch at the time.

Earlier that night, Jarzyk was spending time with his friends at the West Five Supper Club on Madison Street, The Jersey Journal reported. The 27-year-old, who only recently got a promotion at work, appeared in good spirits, according to people who were at the club at the time.

Tragic end: A passerby spotted the missing man’s body floating in the
river near
the historic Erie Lockawanna Train Terminal in Hoboken

Athletic: Relatives say Jarzyk often went out jogging because he was training for a half marathon

Final moments: A surveillance camera caught Jarzyk (seen in circle) running
along the waterfront at around 2am on March 30

Desperate search: Police and the man’s family have spent the past month looking for him and
appealing to the public for information

At around 1am, Jarzyk left the supper club but told his group that he would return shortly. He never made it back.

His family described Andrew Jarzyk as a kind and selfless man

NYPD made several attempts to find Jarzyk, but searches of the Hudson yielded no clues. The missing man’s family have spent the past month distributing fliers and putting up billboards asking for public’s help in finding him.

Then on Monday evening, a passerby came upon a body at the ferry slips south of Pier A, which is where Jarzyk was caught on camera the night of his disappearance, according to Hudson Reporter.

On Wednesday, Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer issued a statement offering her condolences to Jarzyk’s family and friends. - Pakalert Press.

April 30, 2014 - HEALTH- Common infections and minor scratches could soon kill because antibiotics are becoming useless against new superbugs, World Health Organisation warns.

The crisis is bigger and more urgent than the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s Photo: Alamy

A child's scratched knee from falling off their bike, common bladder infections among the elderly in care homes and routine surgery to replace broken hips could all become fatal as antibiotics are becoming increasingly useless, the World Health Organisation has said.

The crisis is bigger and more urgent than the Aids epidemic of the 1980s, it was warned.

UK experts said the 'era of safe medicine is coming to an end' and government funds must be pumped into the production of new drugs.

In the foreword to the report Dr Keiji Fukuda, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Health Security, wrote: "A post-antibiotic era — in which common infections and minor injuries can kill — far from being an apocalyptic fantasy, is instead a very real possibility for the 21st century."

He said: "Unless we take significant actions to improve efforts to prevent infections and also change how we produce, prescribe and use antibiotics, the world will lose more and more of these global public health goods and the implications will be devastating.”

He said modern medicine, from the treatment of urinary tract infections and pneumonia in babies to chemotherapy and kidney dialysis are under threat.

"This is not an abstract problem. We have a big problem now and it is going to get bigger.

"What do we do when we have infections we cannot treat or when we lose the ability to protect people when having chemotherapy? I think there are very concrete implications, " he said.

It is the most comprehensive picture of drug resistance across the globe with data from 114 countries.

It found that antibiotic resistance is present in all areas of the world and is growing.

Over the last 30 years no new types of antibiotics have been developed, the WHO said.

Dr Danilo Lo Fo Wong, Senior Adviser Antimicrobial Resistance at WHO Europe, told the Telegraph: "A child falling off their bike and developing a fatal infection would be a freak occurrence in the UK but that is where we are heading.

"Antibiotic resistance travels with infectious diseases and infectious diseases travel around the world. Whatever good is being done in the UK and elsewhere it can be made redundant by a lack of action elsewhere in the world."

The report comes after England's Chief Medical Officer, Dame Sally Davis, said the issue 'scared' her and called for greater restriction of antibiotics and incentives for pharmaceutical companies to produce new medicines.

Professor Laura Piddock, Director of Antibiotic Action and Professor of Microbiology at University of Birmingham said: “The world needs to respond as it did to the Aids crisis of the Eighties.

"To do this, we need to be ambitious to succeed – moves such as a fully funded mandatory global surveillance programme will document the size of the problem and funded public education will help minimise use – but these are just starting points. We still need a better understanding of all aspects of resistance as well as new discovery, research and development of new antibiotics."

She said governments need to pump money into research to develop new drugs and added that UK funding on antibiotic research as dropped to less than one per cent of available research funds.

Dr Lo Fo Wong warned that antibiotic resistance was bigger than the 1980s Aids crisis because "everyone is potentially in danger".

The report highlighted drug resistance in viral infections also, such as HIV treatments, Tamiflu which is used to combat flu during epidemics and in some fungal infections.

Dr Paul Cosford, Director for Health Protection and Medical Director at Public Health England, said: “Whilst the UK does not have the levels of antibiotic resistance seen in some parts of the world we do see patients with infections resistant to antibiotics and we take these very seriously.

“Combating the development and spread of antibiotic resistance requires a multifaceted approach and PHE is working very closely with its stakeholders to address this. Our work is contributing to the new cross-government national strategy that aims to tackle one of the biggest health care issues of our time.”

Members of the public, health workers and pharmacists, and policymakers could all play a part in fighting the superbugs, said the WHO.

Patients could help by only using antibiotics when they were prescribed by a doctor, making sure they completed the full course of treatment even if feeling better, and never sharing antibiotics or using left over prescriptions.

Health professionals were reminded only to prescribe and dispense antibiotics when they are truly needed and to ensure the right drugs were used for particular infections.

Antibiotic use in food production can be reduced, Dr Fukuda said, and better diagnostic tests need to be used in health care so drugs can be focused on those infections they will be most effective against.

April 30, 2014 - WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES- Thousands of dead fish are washing up on the shores of some central Wisconsin lakes.

In this photo taken April 28, 2014, a pair of dead
fish lies in the sand along the East shoreline of Lake Petenwell in
Rome, Wis. Thousands of dead fish are washing up on the shores of some
central Wisconsin lakes. AP Photo/Daily Tribune Media

Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources says the phenomenon is likely the result of thick ice that trapped fish in waters with low oxygen, Daily Tribune Media reported (http://bit.ly/1rB4iJ6 ) Monday.

"They're all over the lake, probably thousands and thousands," said Rome bar owner Tom Koren.

Residents near Lake Petenwell are seeing a second unusual sight - pelicans have come to scoop up the dead carp, walleye and other fish.

DNR Fish Team supervisor Justine Hasz says it's likely the pelicans are turning up because their normal staging grounds on Lake Michigan are still frozen.

The DNR expects the cold winter will result in more dead fish in lakes throughout the state. The department expects winter kill to be worst in shallower, backwater areas. Castle Rock Lake also may have been hit hard, Hasz said.

Hasz said the DNR planned to investigate the issue further on Tuesday. - Star Tribune.

April 30, 2014 - PAKISTAN- More than 20 peacocks have died in different parts of the drought-hit district of Tharparkar while several others are infected with a viral disease.

Peacocks, such as the one pictured above, are
native to Tharparkar. Several of them have died in the past week as the
authorities struggle to find out the cause behind these sudden deaths.

Nasrullah Samoon, a resident of Malsirio village, said that at least 18 birds have died in the last five days and many more have fallen sick. "The wildlife officials are not giving any attention towards the issue," he complained. "We are taking our own measures and giving them medicine tablets so our birds can survive."

In the adjacent Nangarparkar taluka, the situation is no different. "The birds can survive if the government starts vaccinating the birds right away," he said.

Meanwhile, the officials denied that so many birds have died. An assistant conservator of Tharparkar, Lajpat Sharma, admitted that a few cases have surfaced but, he insisted, the deaths have not been this many. "These birds are very sensitive to the weather and they are dying from the rise in mercury," he claimed.

Sharma said that his department has conducted tests recently and they found no traces of the Rani Khet disease among the peacocks in the desert. "Different diseases have been reported in recent days, such as eye infections."

Justifying the allegations made by the villagers, the officials said that the wild birds are not given vaccination in any part of the world. Those birds that are kept at homes are given vaccination, he added. "The cries of the people are baseless."

The villagers admitted the deaths have increased since the weather became hotter. They were also worried that the shortage of food may also be another reason behind the deaths. Over 20 peacocks died in different villages of Diplo taluka last week. It was also reported that several others were sick but the officials failed to pay any visits. The officials insisted that vaccinations are not feasible for the birds. - The Express Tribune.

April 30, 2014 - AFGHANISTAN- More than 100 people have been killed and thousands left homeless by
flash floods in north and west Afghanistan, officials said on Friday,
prompting desperate pleas for help from the impoverished provincial
authorities.

Thousands of homes have been engulfed by flood waters in four provinces
after three days of heavy rain in what is traditionally a wet period at
the start of spring.

In the northern province of Jawzjan, police chief Faqer Mohammad
Jawzjani said 55 bodies had been recovered, and that the number of dead
would increase over the coming days.

"Providing aid or help from the ground is impossible," he told Reuters.
"We have carried 1,500 people to safe areas of neighboring districts by
helicopter. We need emergency assistance from the central government and
aid agencies."

The governor of neighboring Faryab province said 33 people had died there and another 80 were missing.

"Ten thousand families have been affected and more than 2,000 houses have been destroyed," Mohammadullah Batazhn said.

Another 13 people were killed in the provinces of Badghis and Sar-e Pol, local officials said.

April 30, 2014 - BALTIMORE, UNITED STATES- A street in the Charles Village neighborhood of Baltimore collapsed
Wednesday, washing away cars and flooding CSX railroad tracks that run
below street level.

Heavy rains cause a landslide in Baltimore, Maryland.Stacey Mink

Ian Brennan, a spokesman for the Baltimore Fire Department, said no injuries were reported.

One lane of the East 26th Street between North Charles and North St.
Paul streets collapsed about 4 p.m. and slid down an embankment leading
to the tracks below. The cause of the collapse was unclear, but it came
on a day that the region was experiencing heavy rain storms.

Stacey Mink

Area had been drenched by torrential rainfall in recent days. The Independent, UK

Multiple vehicles lie at the bottom of a landslide
after heavy rains caused a street to give way in Baltimore, Maryland,
on April 30, 2014. The Independent, UK

Several streets were closed late Wednesday afternoon. St. Paul and
Charles are major thoroughfares that are generally crowded during both
the morning and evening commutes. The neighborhood is largely
residential row houses. Traffic was reported to be snarled in the area
of the collapse and downtown.

Brennan said no houses were damaged but fire
officials said many residents living along East 26th Street were ordered
to leave until building inspectors can assess their properties.

WATCH: Massive landslide in Baltimore.

A photograph in the Baltimore Sun shows a wide area of destruction in
what appears to have been a landslide. The railroad tracks are covered
with water, dirt and six cars that went down the embankment. Baltimore
officials said CSX has suspended rail service through the city.

A spokesman for CSX did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
- Washington Post.

April 30, 2014 - FLORIDA/ALABAMA, UNITED STATES- As a deadly weather front continued to make its way across the Southern
United States late Tuesday and early Wednesday, both Florida and Alabama
were struck with severe flooding that's left at least one person dead.

Photo from Twitter/@IndianaWxOnline

According to the Associated Press, rainfall in the Florida Panhandle -
especially the area around Pensacola - and the coast of Alabama has been
relentless, dropping well over a foot of rain in both states. Houses
have been flooded to the point where residents have had to seek higher
ground, and overflowing roads have stranded drivers waiting to be picked
up by rescue squads.

In Pensacola, where 15-20 inches of rain fell in a one-day period, at
least one woman has been reported dead due to driving in perilously high
waters. Florida Gov. Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency in 26
counties.

So many people have been calling rescue crews for
help that the county has been inundated. The National Weather Service
stated that officials are planning aerial rescues and have relocated
boats and jet skis from the beaches in order to help as many people as
possible.

"It's gotten to the point where we can't send EMS and fire rescue crews out on some 911 calls because they can't get there,"
Escambia County spokesman Bill Pearson told the AP. "We've had people
whose homes are flooding and they've had to climb up to the attic."

Others, on the other hand, have simply left their cars to seek shelter at their local police stations.

"We have people at the police department," added Officer Justin Cooper
of the Pensacola Police Department to the AP. "They walked up here and
are hanging out until things get better."

A similar situation is unfolding in Alabama, where roads are underwater
and people have had trouble making it to shelter. According to USA Today,
Baldwin County EMA Director Mitchell Sims said the area is being hit
with "historical flooding," adding that calls for help were "non-stop."
Luckily, Sims said, there had yet to be any fatalities related to this
particular storm.

"As soon as we get a water rescue team in here, they're sent back out,"
Sims told the Weather Channel. "We're rescuing people from cars, from
rooftops, from all over the place.

"I think we're going to be dealing with this for days. I don't know where the water's going to go. Everything is saturated."

Elsewhere in Alabama, the scene has been likened to that of a
hurricane's aftermath - in Silverhill, weather projections estimated
rainfall would exceed what the town experienced during 1997's Hurricane
Danny. At Orange Beach, meanwhile, the storm's consequences are being
compared to Hurricane Ivan from 2004.

WATCH: Flooding in Florida's Panhandle.

"We've got water up in our parking lots," resident J.J. Andrews said to
the AP. "Our docks are under water. It's worse than during Hurricane
Ivan, is what they're saying. It's crazy."

The flooding in Florida and Alabama is just the latest surprise to come
from a storm system that's killed dozens of people and spawned tornadoes
since Sunday. As noted by CNN, deaths were reported in Alabama,
Tennessee, and Mississippi on Monday. On Tuesday, 18 deaths were
reported in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Iowa.
- RT.

April 30, 2014 - OREGON, UNITED STATES- While the state of Oregon gears up to test its shores for radioactive
contamination from Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster, university
scientists have found that radiation levels in some albacore tuna caught
off its coast have tripled.

AFP Photo / Yoshikazu Tsuno

According to researchers
at the University of Oregon, the results came after tests analyzed the
cesium levels in 26 tuna caught prior to the 2011 nuclear calamity - as
far back as 2008 - and those caught after the accident.

Although the levels of radioactive isotopes in some of the tuna tripled
after the disaster, the researchers found they are still "a thousand
times lower" than the safety standards outlined by the US Department of
Agriculture.

"A year of eating albacore with these cesium traces is about the same
dose of radiation as you get from spending 23 seconds in a stuffy
basement from radon gas," the study's lead author, Delvan Neville said
to Oregon's Statesman Journal.

Still, Neville added that the discovery of any amount of radiation is significant.

"You can't say there is absolutely zero risk because
any radiation is assumed to carry at least some small risk," he said.
"But these trace levels are too small to be a realistic concern."

Researchers stated that the migration paths of the tuna could also
affect the levels of radiation going forward. Most of the 3-year-old
tuna tested had no traces of Fukushima radiation, but 4-year-old tuna -
which likely traveled through the radioactive plume a couple of times -
had higher cesium levels. Continued migration could increase cesium
levels further, but the researchers said it would still fall well below
maximum safety levels.

Since the results did reveal a spike in radiation, though, the
researchers will be expanding their study beyond Oregon to test a larger
number of tuna across the West Coast.

"The presence of these radioactive isotopes is actually helping us in an
odd way - giving us information that will allow us to estimate how
albacore tuna migrate between our West Coast and Japan," Neville told
the Journal.

Meanwhile, Oregon state itself plans to hold its next quarterly
radiation test on May 13. Back in February, Ken Buesseler of the Woods
Hole Oceanographic Institution stated that a plume of radioactive water
from Fukushima would likely hit the US West Coast by April 2014.
Buesseler said the plume is likely too diluted to pose a health concern
to Americans or the habitat, but added that only testing will be able to
confirm his belief.
- RT.

April 30, 2014 - ENGLAND- Temperatures are set to plummet over the Bank Holiday weekend, falling
to as low as -3C as a blast of cold air moves in from the Arctic,
potentially lasting for up to a fortnight.

People walking their dogs during mist and frost in Richmond Park.

Forecasters say that parts of Britain will experience heavy overnight
frosts, with the North facing a windchill factor of -5C and the
potential for snow on hilltops by the end of the week.

The impending cold snap follows one of the mildest winters in recent
years, although the wettest January for 250 years led to widespread
flooding - particularly in the South-West.

Speaking to the MailOnline, Met Office spokesman Simon Partridge said
high pressure building up in the North would cause rainfall, although
the Bank Holiday weekend itself is expected to be dry.

Colder air will begin moving down from the North on Wednesday, reaching
southern England by the weekend and causing heavy frosts, he added.

'In fact we've been telling gardeners over the last few days that they
should move new or vulnerable plants indoors if possible,' Mr Partridge
said.

Jonathan Powell, forecaster for Vantage Weather, told the Express: 'We are looking at northerly flow of air coming in from the Arctic. With windchill this could push thermometers as low a -5C.'

Cold snap: Nighttime temperatures will drop quite dramatically over the next few days

'Temperatures are going to sink decidedly below average for the time of
year, with the risk of very sharp frosts and a cold and bracing Bank
Holiday next Monday'.

'This is certainly looking like the last taste of winter and it could
hold out like this for at least the next week and perhaps up to two,' he
added.

The predicted cold snap contradicts forecasts from earlier in the month
that said Britain was set for a six-week heatwave from the end of April
and into May.

A Met Office report read: 'Latest predictions for UK-mean temperature
favour above-average temperatures for April and April-May as a whole.'

The warm conditions had been expected to bring a quarter of a million
visitors to the South-West - providing a £54million boost for local
businesses that were badly hit by flooding earlier in the year.

Three day forecast: Umbrellas will be needed
across much of the UK on Thursday, with outbursts of heavy showers in
the south today

Wet conditions: The Met Office has issued a yellow flood warning for parts of the south coast today

Meanwhile, parts of the south coast will experience slowing moving heavy
showers today, with the Met Office issuing a yellow warning for the
potential risk of localised flooding.

Met Office spokeswoman Nicola Maxey said: 'The yellow warning is in
place for this afternoon from 12.45pm to 8pm, along the south coast,
which will experience scattered heavy showers and thunderstorms. Some
places will experience 10 to 15mm of rain in less than an hour, with
some places getting 25mm of rain in three hours. There could be
localised flooding as the showers will be sharp and heavy, which makes
it difficult for the drains and ground to cope

'There is also a chance of hail and lightning with some of those storms.'
- Daily Mail.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

April 29, 2014 - GEORGIA, UNITED STATES - A FedEx
Corp package handler armed with a shotgun opened fire at a shipping
facility in suburban Atlanta early on Tuesday, injuring six people
before killing himself, apparently with his own weapon, police and
hospital officials said.

Police officers from Cobb County Police, and
Marietta and Kennesaw departments stage near the entrance of the Federal
Express Ground building after a man opened fire inside the building
before turning the gun on himself in Kennesaw, Georgia, April 29, 2014. REUTERS/Kelly J. Huff/Marietta Daily Journal

Three people were in critical condition, two of them with life-threatening injuries, after being shot by the 19-year-old gunman just before 6 a.m. EDT at a FedEx warehouse near the airport in Kennesaw, Georgia, about 30 miles northwest of Atlanta, police and hospital officials said.

The shooter, identified as Geddy L. Kramer of Acworth, Georgia, drove up to the security guard shack at the warehouse and shot the guard before entering the warehouse where he shot the other five people, according to police.

FedEx employee Liza Aiken told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution she was correcting addresses on packages when she saw a colleague dressed in black and armed with a knife, gun and a cartridge belt strapped across this chest.

"He had bullets strapped to his chest like Rambo," she told the newspaper. "He looked like he was heading into war."

Authorities searching the building after the incident found a Molotov cocktail that appeared to have been left behind by the gunman, said Cobb County Police spokesman Michael Bowman. No motive was given for the attack.

Aiken said she previously had reported the man to her superiors after he pointed a work laser at her eye.

Michael Hogland, a driver at the facility, told the paper his boss called him early on Tuesday and said a security guard was among the shooting victims.

A Cobb County Police officer escorts a worker
out of the secured area of the Federal Express Ground building after a
man opened fire inside the building before turning the gun on himself
before sunrise in Kennesaw, Georgia, April 29, 2014. REUTERS/Kelly J. Huff/Marietta Daily Journal

The six patients taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta all had multiple gunshot wounds that appeared to be from a shotgun, Dr. Michael Nitzken said at a news conference.

Two men, 28 and 22 years old, as well as a 52-year-old woman were listed in critical condition. Another 28-year-old man was stable, while a 42-year-old woman and 19-year-old man had been treated and were being released, Nitzken said.

Hundreds of police from multiple agencies converged on the scene after the shooting, and employees escorted from the facility in a bus tearfully reunited with family members at a nearby skating rink.

A FedEx spokeswoman extended condolences to those affected by the shooting.

"The situation is now stabilized, and we are focused on the needs of our team members and cooperating with the law enforcement investigation of this tragedy," said company spokeswoman Shea Leordeanu.- Reuters.

April 29, 2014 - SPACE-A solar eclipse that occurs on average only once every 73 years may
be perfectly witnessed only by penguins in Antarctica, while watchers in
Australia had a shot at seeing the sun as a “super-fat banana”.

The crescent sun, an annular eclipse meaning that the moon is too far away to completely block out the sun, instead creating a perfect ‘ring of fire’ could be witnessed in Perth, Australia, from 05:00 GMT on April 29. Such eclipses are relatively common, with about four every five years. The last occurred in May 2013.

What makes this eclipse – the first of 2014 - unusual is that it is non-central, meaning that the center of the Moon’s shadow will not fall on Earth, instead passing above the Southern Hemisphere sky.

Of 3,956 annular eclipses calculated to have happened or scheduled to happen between 2,000 BC and 3,000 AD only 68, or 1.7 percent, are non-central annular eclipses. This is only the third such event since the 17th century.

A girl looks through a telescope to try and see a partial solar eclipse
from Sydney's Observatory Hill
April 29, 2014. (Reuters / David Gray)

As most of the shadow was set to miss Earth – the perfect spot to watch the eclipse at its most symmetrical would have been above the planet . The only place where the “ring of fire”, or annulus, can be seen at all is in Antarctica. The spot is half way between the Dumont d’Urville and Concordia stations – located 1,100 km apart – meaning that in all likelihood no human was able to witness the unusual phenomenon.

"This is a thoroughly bizarre eclipse," said a statement from Bob Berman, an astronomer with the Slooh Space Camera, which broadcasts astral events online.

“As we will watch in real time as the inky black hemisphere of the moon partially obscures the sun, the greatest thrill might be an awareness of what's occurring — unseen by any human — in a tiny region of Antarctica."

WATCH: 2014 Annular Solar Eclipse.

For sentient observers, due to the imperfect angle of observation the phenomenon wouldn't "look any different from a normal, partial eclipse," Stephen Hughes told Australian Associated Press. A partial eclipse occurs when the Sun and the Moon do not fully align, so that the latter blocks out only a chunk of the former.

About half the Sun was covered when the eclipse passed Sydney, and more than two thirds over Melbourne.

A man talks to a visitor in front of a screen displaying the partial
solar eclipse as seen from the city of Perth during
a gathering of
amateur astronomers at Sydney's Observatory Hill April 29, 2014.
(Reuters / David Gray)

"Melbourne will be quite a bit better than Sydney ... a super-fat banana,"Hughes said before the event.

The eclipse could also be perceived in southern Indonesian islands.

NASA published an interactive map that allowed Australasian residents to see when the eclipse passed through their area, but as usual, amateur sky-watchers were instructed to avoid looking at the Sun without protective equipment. - RT.

April 29, 2014 - CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES-The Coast Guard searched for a pilot in the northern part of San Francisco Bay on Sunday after two small planes collided over the water and only one of the aircraft landed safely, authorities said.

The two aircraft collided at 4 p.m. near the San Pablo Bay on Sunday. The Hawker Sea Fury TMK 20, a Korean War-era
British fighter, landed safely, but the Cessna 210 crashed in the water. The coast guard is searching for the pilot.

Debris was spotted in San Pablo Bay after the 4:05 p.m. collision near the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, Petty Officer Loumania Stewart said.

The Cessna crashed into the water and the pilot of the Hawker was able to land safely at Eagle’s Nest Airport in the small Northern California city of Ione, Gregor said. The pilot was reportedly uninjured.

Gregor said both planes took off from Half Moon Bay Airport, roughly 20 miles south of San Francisco. FAA records indicate the Hawker is registered to Sanders Aeronautics Inc. in Ione.

A man who answered the phone at the company’s listed number declined to comment. Sanders Aeronautics’ website said the family-run company specializes in aircraft restoration and that its family members are avid air racers.

A Coast Guard cutter, three rescue boats and a helicopter were involved in the search, Stewart said. - NY Daily News.

April 29, 2014 - TECHNOLOGY- Technologies designed specifically to track and monitor human beings have been in development for at least two decades.

And he causes all, the small and the great, and
the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a
mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no
one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark,
either the name of the beast or the number of his name.…Revelations 13:16-17

In the virtual realm, software programs are now capable of watching us in real time, going so far as to make predictions about our future behaviors and sending alerts to the appropriate monitoring station depending on how a computer algorithm flags your activities. That is in and of itself a scary proposition.

What may be even scarier, however, is what’s happening in the physical realm. According to researches working on human-embedded microchips it’s only a matter of time before these systems achieve widespread acceptance.

Chances are you’re carrying a couple of RFID microchips
now. And if you are, they’re sending out a 15-digit number that
identifies you. That number can be picked up by what’s called an ISO
compliant scanner. And they’re everywhere, too.
…It’s not possible to interact with society in a meaningful
way by not having a mobile phone. I think human implants are likely to
go along a very similar route. It would be such a disadvantage to not
have the implant that it essentially becomes not optional.

Your initial reaction to this idea may be
one of disbelief. There’s no way society would accept such a device. Why
would anyone want to implant this in their body?

Consider for a moment where we are right
now. For decades Americans rejected the notion that they would submit to
being tracked or recorded.

Embedded in every one of those phones is an RFID chip that can track our every movement via GPS or cell tower triangulation. Moreover, those microphones and cameras that come standard on every phone can be remotely activated by law enforcement surveillance systems, a capability that has existed since the early 2000′s.

But as intrusive as these devices are, they are accepted as the norm by billions of people world wide. Not only that, but no one had to “force” them on us. We are, it seems, the masters of our own enslavement. And we pay top dollar to have the best tracking device money can buy!

Granted, one can simply disconnect from “the grid” by throwing away their cell phone. But, the direction these new monitoring technologies are moving coupled with continued government expansion of surveillance suggests that microchip RFID technology will eventually be non-voluntary.

Michael Snyder of The Truth Wins asks What will you do when you can no longer buy or sell without submitting to biometric identification?

This technology is going to keep spreading, and it is going to become harder and harder to avoid it.
And it is easy to imagine what a tyrannical government could do with
this kind of technology. If it wanted to, it could use it to literally
track the movements and behavior of everyone.
…
And one day, this kind of technology will likely be so pervasive that
you won’t be able to open a bank account, get a credit card or even buy
anything without having either your hand or your face scanned first.

It’s difficult to imagine a populace that will freely submit to such
digital bondage. But as has been the case with the degradation of
personal privacy and rights in America, be assured it won’t simply
become law over night.

First, the technologies will need to be generally accepted by
society. It’ll start with real-time consumer based products like Google
Glass. The older generations may reject it, but in a couple of years you
can bet that tens of millions of kids, teens and younger adults will be
roaming the streets while sporting cool shades, interactive web surfing
and the capability to record everything around them and upload it to
the internet instantly.

Next, as we’re already seeing from early adopters, RFID chips will be
voluntarily implanted under our skin for everything from access to high
security buildings to grocery store purchases.

Eventually, once the concept is generally accepted by the majority, it will become our new “social security number.”

To gain access to official services, you’ll need to be a verified human. Without verification you won’t even be able to purchase a six pack of beer, let alone get medical care or a driver’s license.

Whether we like it or not this is the future. Every purchase you make
and every step you take will be tracked by a tiny 15-digit passive
microchip, meaning that the only way to “turn it off” will be to
physically remove it from your body.

In essence, we’ll soon live in a world of Always On Monitoring.

Our children and grandchildren – at least most of them – will likely
not only submit to implantation, they’ll gladly pay the costs so that
they, too, can “interact with society in a meaningful way.” - SHTF Plan.

April 29, 2014 - THE VATICAN CHURCH STATE-
Pope Francis
on Sunday will preside over a pomp-filled ceremony to declare
Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII saints—an event that commemorates
the legacies of two of the Catholic Church's most popular popes, both
instrumental in shaping the current pontiff's groundbreaking reign.

Pilgrims filled the streets of Rome and the Vatican ahead of Sunday's
double canonization for
Popes John XXIII and John Paul II. Photo: AP

The
rite in St. Peter's Square on Sunday, canonizing two of the Catholic
Church's most popular popes, is likely to be a history-making event,
given the strong possibility that Pope Benedict XVI, who resigned last
year, will also be in attendance. That would mark the first time in the
church's 2,000-year history that two popes would honor the memory of two
previous ones.

Pope Francis chose to hold a single ceremony to canonize the pair, bringing together two popes who are closely associated with the Second Vatican Council of 1962-65, which led to significant reforms in the church. Pope John XXIII, who reigned from 1958 to 1963, launched Vatican II, as it is commonly known, while John Paul II's nearly 27-year papacy, which lasted from 1978 until his death in 2005, oversaw the implementation of large parts of the reforms.

"To carry out a double canonization is a message to the Church: These two are good people," Pope Francis told reporters on the papal plane back from celebrating the World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro last summer.

More than 40 heads of state are traveling to Rome for the event, and about a million pilgrims are expected on the day, according to estimates from the Vatican and officials in Rome. Around 150 cardinals and about a thousand bishops from around the world will join Pope Francis in the ceremony, which begins at 10 a.m. local time and is expected to last more than an hour. It will be broadcast live world-wide and on large screens in St. Peter's Square and across the city.

"The bigger significance of this event is the Second Vatican Council and its status marking a sort of springtime for the church," said Chad Pecknold, assistant professor of theology at the Catholic University of America in Washington, noting that Pope Francis is making saints those most closely associated with it.

Vatican II was a watershed for the Catholic Church, introducing vernacular to replace Latin at masses and calling for greater participation of laity and women in the life of the church. It encouraged ecumenism, or dialogue with other religions and other Christian denominations, and scrapped the concept of Jewish guilt for the crucifixion of Christ, which soured Christian-Jewish relations for centuries.

The Second Vatican Council also advocated more decentralization of power in the church, a concept that Pope Francis has strongly backed. For instance, Last year he ordered a survey of parishes around the world to hear clerics' and parishioners' greatest concerns regarding issues such as birth control and same-sex marriage in preparation for a major meeting of bishops later this year on the family. He has also called for a greater role for women in the church and recently appointed a woman as the head of a pontifical institute.

Pope Francis also made a statement in favor of ecumenism last December, when he declared one of the first Jesuits, Pierre Favre, also called Peter Faber, a saint. The Jesuit is known for his contacts with Protestants during the Reformation, flouting the official church line considering them heretics.

The importance of Vatican II is also evident in the expected beatification later this year of Pope Paul VI, who presided over the Council's closure in 1965 and reigned until 1978.

"The renewal brought by Vatican II opened the way," Pope Francis said Friday in a video message for residents of the small northern Italian town where Pope John XXIII was born. "There is a special joy in the fact that the canonization of John XXIII happens together with that of John Paul II, who advanced that renewal during his long papacy."

The immense popularity and personal style of Pope Francis also recalls characteristics of Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII. The current pontiff's genial manner and common-man touch have won him fans among many Catholics and non-Catholics alike, and he has vocally called for the church to return to its pastoral roots.

Similarly, Pope John XXIII, a peasant's son from northern Italy who is commonly referred to as the "Good Pope" thanks to his jovial, grandfatherly ways, broke tradition by venturing outside the Vatican's walls to visit parishes across Rome and be closer to the faithful.

"There are so many similarities between popes John XXIII and Francis," said Rev. Giovangiuseppe Califano, the postulator, or promoter, of the cause for John XXIII's sainthood. "The closeness to common people, the shaking of hands, the kissing of babies…it's an evangelical gift."

John Paul II, the globe-trotting, Polish-born pontiff renowned for his charisma, is credited with contributing to the fall of communism. He visited more than 130 countries, reaching out to millions of Catholics. He was particularly close to young people, establishing the highly-successful world youth days.

The Argentinean-born Pope Francis, the first pontiff to hail from the Americas, has similarly begun tilting the church away from the U.S. and Europe, emphasizing the fast-growing areas Asia, Latin America and Africa. John Paul II "was a great missionary of the Church," said Pope Francis last year. "He brought the Gospel everywhere."

The Vatican has confirmed that retired Pope Benedict XVI is invited to the ceremony at St. Peter's Basilica. The prospect of two popes potentially attending a canonization of two popes whom they knew personally has drawn world attention, as well as millions of pilgrims to Rome in recent days.

If Benedict attends, "Rome will witness an event that has never happened in the Church's history: two living popes witnessing the canonization of two former popes," said Msgr. Liberio Andreatta, vice president of the Vatican-linked Rome Pilgrimages Organization and among the organizers of the double canonization. - WSJ.

ITCCS Delegation To Rome And London To Enforce Annulment Order Against The Church Of Rome And Of England As Eye-Witnesses Reveals Vatican Satanic Ritual Involving The Raping Of Teenagers, And The Killing And Eating Of Babies!

ITCCS Delegation and Dignitaries to accompany Rev. Kevin Annett to Rome and London to enforce Annulment Order against the Church of Rome and of England – Events set for “Jubilee Week” , June 30-July 7, 2014 – Decision prompted by “real and dire dangers” to Rev. Annett

Brussels:

Politicians, Common Law court jurists and sheriffs, and a documentary film team will accompany Rev. Kevin Annett to the Vatican and to London during a “Jubilee Week” set of actions from June 30 to July 6, 2014, to enforce the Easter Annulment Proclamation against the Church of Rome and of England.

This action was announced today as part of the Common Law trial against Pope Francis and others for global child trafficking and murder.

“We have learned that Reverend Annett faces very real and dire dangers because of his exposure of Vatican child sacrifice rituals. Kevin is far too vulnerable and valuable to be traveling on his own right now, since he is pivotal to our case and to the work of the Court” said George Dufort for the Public Information Agency of the International Common Law Court of Justice (ICLCJ).

WATCH: Kevin Annett - Eye-witnesses to Pope Bergoglio's raping of teens, and the killing and eating of babies in Satanic ritual.

“Against Kevin’s own wishes, we have insisted that a strong delegation accompany him when he enters England and Rome, and that this delegation help him enforce the Easter Proclamation that nullifies the authority of the Vatican and the British Crown. That will occur during the first week in July, during the Court’s summer adjournment.”

Recent evidence submitted by Kevin Annett to the proceedings against Pope Francis and others documents the murderous actions of a Jesuit-run child sacrificial cult known as the Ninth Circle. (see www.itccs.org, April 10, 2014). Members of the Ninth Circle are apparently targeting Rev. Annett for elimination.

Reverend Annett is presently in consultation with ITCCS officials in Europe. Further updates will be posted soon.

April 29, 2014 - UNITED STATES- From Missouri to New York, Michigan to Florida, forecasters urged
millions of Americans to keep an eye on the weather Tuesday, warning of
tornadoes, high winds and hail spawned by the storm system that's killed
31 people in the last two days.

A massive storm system moves across the United States.NOAA

Roughly 70 million people are being warned of a slight to moderate risk
of severe weather in the eastern half of the United States, according to
the National Weather Service. That was a slight downgrade from an
estimated 75 million people earlier in the day.

Mississippi and Alabama -- where tornadoes Monday caused widespread
destruction and several deaths -- were again in the bull's-eye for the
worst of Tuesday's forecast.

Tens of thousands were without power in those two states, where
suspected tornadoes chewed through homes and businesses late Monday. At
least 13 people were killed in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee on
Monday. Those deaths are in addition to 18 others reported in Arkansas,
Oklahoma and Iowa from storms Sunday.

In Tupelo, Mississippi, employees at a Steak Escape
restaurant survived by huddling in the bathroom as the storm destroyed
the building around them, Mayor Jason Shelton told CNN's "New Day."

"That was just a miracle of God," he said.

Anthony Bishop and his co-workers also had a close call when the storm hit their lube shop.

"Right as it ripped the roof off the building ... we all jumped in the pit," Bishop told CNN affiliate WMC-TV. "Heard blocks hitting cars above me, glass flying all around the pit where we were."

Tuesday's threat

The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center said nearly 2.5
million people in parts of Alabama and Mississippi were at moderate risk
of tornadoes, damaging winds and scattered large hail.

Risk areas stretched from the Great Lakes south to the Gulf of Mexico and east to the Atlantic Ocean.

The threat was expected to drift slowly east, putting parts of Florida,
Georgia, the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic states at a slight risk of
severe weather Thursday, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

'It hurts to look'

Monday's storms left a trail of damage through several Mississippi and Alabama communities.

Mississippi authorities confirmed eight deaths there. Three people died in Alabama and two in Tennessee, according to officials.

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant said the twisters inflicted "severe damage"
around the town of Louisville, about 90 miles northeast of Jackson.

Winston Medical Center, Louisville's major hospital, was among the buildings hit.

In Tupelo, buildings near a major commercial district on the city's
north side were "wiped away," Scott Morris, a reporter for the Northeast
Mississippi Daily Journal, told CNN's "The Lead."

Numerous trees and power lines were down, and "quite a few buildings are destroyed up there," Morris said.

"It hurts to look, because I won't come home tonight," said Butler, who
still managed to smile after discovering her dog had come out unscathed.
"Oreo means the most to me."

As things got ugly, Matt Laubhan, the chief meteorologist at Tupelo television station WTVA, took charge. He ordered station staff to take cover before walking off the set himself.

"Basement. Now ... let's go," Laubhan said.

Two people died in Lincoln County, Tennessee, near the border with Alabama.

Part of an elementary school there was torn away, the building's roof
was ripped off and the storm hurled a school bus into the school, CNN affiliate WSMV reported. The bus and school were empty at the time, the station said.

Alabama also hit hard

One of the three Alabama deaths was a 21-year-old University of Alabama student from Tupelo, according to the school.

Jon Servati was a member of the school's swimming and diving team, the
school's athletic department said in a statement. He died from injuries
suffered at an off-campus home, the school said.

The other two deaths came at a trailer park near Athens, about 22 miles west of Huntsville.

The storm reduced a complex of houses and duplex apartments in the town
to rubble. Downed power lines and gas leaks made the area dangerous,
CNN's Brian Todd reported from Athens.

Authorities in Limestone County, where Athens is located, asked people
to stay off roads wherever possible Tuesday. Emergency crews need
unimpeded access to roads, and extensive damage and downed power lines
make travel hazardous, authorities said in the message transmitted by
the National Weather Service.

In Jefferson County, Alabama -- site of the state's largest city,
Birmingham -- a fire station was hit, as was a church. People were
trapped for a time in the church, but no one was seriously injured,
Horace Walker, a spokesman for county's emergency management agency,
told "New Day."

About 90,000 homes and businesses were without electricity Tuesday
afternoon, according to the Brian Corbett of the Alabama Emergency
Management Agency. About 10,000 customers remained without power around
Jackson, Mississippi, Entergy Mississippi reported.

Act II

Monday's storms were Act II of a powerful weather system that brought
punishing thunderstorms to the central United States. Suspected
tornadoes spawned by those storms on Sunday killed 15 people in
Arkansas, two in Iowa and one in Oklahoma, authorities in those states
reported.

Sunday's hardest-hit area was Faulkner County, Arkansas, where a
suspected tornado shattered homes, tossed tractor-trailers and killed 11
people in the towns of Vilonia and Mayflower, including one death newly
reported by authorities on Tuesday. Two children were among the dead. - CNN.